It was Friday hours on a Thursday, given the courtesy granted to the Conservatives for their convention, and attendance was only slightly better than any given Friday. The final member’s statement before QP was given to Conservative Corneliu Chisu, who played up his native Transylvanian accent to warn about how scary the Liberal leader and his plans were, which is now a Halloween tradition for the Conservatives. Nathan Cullen started off QP proper by asking how many cheques were written on Duffy’s behalf, but Paul Calandra, after a message about safety on Halloween, gave the usual talking points about how Wright took full responsibility and so on. Cullen asked how many people in the PMO knew about the payment. Calandra decried that the NDP didn’t want to talk about to talk about the economy. Cullen raised the spectre of the Liberal sponsorship scandal, and Cullen reminded him that they wanted to form a coalition government with then. Nicole Turmel was up next, asking when Harper last spoke to Nigel Wright, but Calandra simply insisted that they wanted to talk about more important issues. For the Liberals, Ralph Goodale asked for an itemised invoice from Duffy’s lawyer to demonstrate why they charged $13,000. Calandra brought up the sponsorship scandal and the alleged cheque to Joe Fontana from Public Works to pay for its son’s wedding. When Goodale wanted to know how Harper couldn’t know given how many people in his inner sanctum, Calandra responded by calling the Liberals snakes and accused their senators of standing in the way. When Goodale brought up Duffy’s allegation that he was coached to lie, Calandra mused about what Justin Trudeau thought about Chrsytia Freeland talking about people not having their father’s job.

Round two stared with Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe returning to the inconsistencies in Harper’s statements (Clanadra: Duffy won’t take responsibility for what he’s done), Alexandre Boulerice asked if Duffy was coached by the PMO to lie (Calandra: You’re a separatist), Charlie Angus returned to the question of how many cheques Duffy received (Calandra: The party sometimes helps members with legal bills but that doesn’t changed the fact that what Duffy did was wrong). Carolyn Bennett wondered how Harper could not take personal responsibility for the whole ClusterDuff affair (Calandra: Sponsorship!), and Dominic LeBlanc asked about the documents that Harper hasn’t made public (Calandra: You’re standing up of these disgraced senators). Jack Harris and Sylvain Chicoine asked about injured soldiers being dismissed from the military before being eligible for pensions (Nicholson: They were provided with transition services), and Guy Caron and Murray Rankin asked about increasing Canada Pension Plan rates (Findlay: We are talking with the provinces but we are concerned about the impact on small businesses).

Round three saw questions on the participation of a mining executive with foreign aid, the fact that abortion services wouldn’t be funded in foreign aid for victims of rape, the US Steel closure in Hamilton, cuts to the Last Post veterans burial fund, social housing cuts, the new EI tribunal, gay and lesbian rights at the Sochi games (Obhrai: We are monitoring the situation), EI reforms for fishers, and the delay in the Supreme Court hearing the issue of Justice Nadon’s appointment.

Overall it was utterly shambolic. Most of the moral outrage was scripted, while Calandra responded by freewheeling and avoiding even the subject matter of most questions put to him. If QP started out strong this week, if was at its most debased by the end of it. Good thing it was a short week.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Candice Bergen for a black half-sleeve top with a high-waisted grey skirt, and to Kennedy Stewart for a black suit with a crisp white shirt and a purple tie with thin stripes. Style citations go out to Jean Rouseau for a grey suit with a bright yellow shirt and burgundy striped tie, and to Cheryl Gallant for a burnt orange jacket with a black turtleneck.